1. The Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to media devices including portable media devices. More specifically, embodiments of the present invention relate to methods and systems for interfacing media devices with media content providers.
2. The Relevant Technology
As the value and use of information continues to increase, individuals and businesses seek additional ways to process and store information. One option available to users is information handling systems. An information handling system generally processes, compiles, stores, and/or communicates information or data for business, personal, or other purposes thereby allowing users to take advantage of the value of the information. Because technology and information handling needs and requirements vary between different users or applications, information handling systems may also vary regarding what information is handled, how the information is handled, how much information is processed, stored, or communicated, and how quickly and efficiently the information may be processed, stored, or communicated. The variations in information handling systems allow for information handling systems to be general or configured for a specific user or specific use such as financial transaction processing, airline reservations, enterprise data storage, or global communications. In addition, information handling systems may include a variety of hardware and software components that may be configured to process, store, and communicate information and may include one or more computer systems, data storage systems, and networking systems.
One of the advantages afforded by technological improvements is the ability to distribute digital media. However, the ability of information handling systems to present digital media information has not kept pace with the ways in which digital media information can be distributed, the wide variety of digital media, or with the growing diversity among media devices.
For example, digital media information (e.g., music, video, Internet data, sports data, news data, weather data, etc.) can be distributed to media devices via various networks including the Internet as well as wireless communication, such as satellite radio, WiFi, cellular networks, and the like. Given the diversity of media devices and media content, many different types of devices have been developed to enjoy the growing availability of digital media information. Examples of media devices may include MP3 players, portable CD players, portable DVD players, notebook computers, cellular telephones, personal digital assistants (PDAs) and the like. Digital media information can also be enjoyed on non-portable devices as well such as on desk top computers.
Oftentimes, a user desires to access specific content for the media devices. Typically a user accesses a media content provider and then navigates through various interfaces defined by the media content provider to select the desired content. As will be appreciated, this may be time consuming when the user desires to access a large number of different content. Further, the user's view of the content is controlled by the content provider. While this may be desirable from the content provider's perspective, the user typically would like to have an alternative view of the content that is based on his or her preferences and desired categorization.